Optimism rewards Web3 artists with a $40.8 million airdrop
Optimism, a layer 2 network aimed at scaling Ethereum, has launched its fourth airdrop, distributing over 10 million OPs to Web3 artists. This airdrop, worth approximately $40.8 million at current market price, is a gesture of appreciation for the artists who have brought creativity and innovation to the blockchain space.
According to an official statement, 22,998 recipients have until February 13, 2025 to claim their tokens. The eligibility criteria for the airdrop is the creation of NFT art on the Ethereum mainnet or Optimism's Superchain between January 10, 2023 and January 10, 2024.
“A great society needs artists. This airdrop aims to appreciate artists and their ability to infuse creativity into the blockchain. Your efforts are vital to the success of Optimism Collective,” Optimism states on its site.
Optimism Collective is a community of developers, users, and supporters who share a vision of scaling Ethereum and enabling a more open, decentralized, and inclusive Web3.
Rewards are calculated based on the popularity of the artist's NFT, determined by gas fees incurred during minting or trading activities. For example, generating 1 ETH worth of gas on Superchain can earn creators 5,000 OP, with a limit of 6,000 OP per address.
Additionally, token allocation can increase by 50% or 1.5x for creators who meet specific reward criteria, such as early contract creation or significant post-launch activity.
The latest airdrop follows three previous distributions, with the most recent event in September 2023 distributing 19.4 million OP. Optimism has announced plans for future airdrops, with approximately 560 million OP allocated for such events. As shared on social media platform X, the ongoing strategy aims to improve the reward mechanism and incentivize positive contributions within the Optimism network.
Optimism is one of the leading layer 2 solutions that leverage optimistic rollups, a technique that allows transactions to be carried out on the sidechain and periodically verified on the main chain. This reduces congestion and fees on the Ethereum network, while maintaining the security and decentralization of the network.
Optimism's Superchain launched in July 2023 is compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and supports smart contracts and decentralized applications. Several prominent projects, such as Uniswap, Synthetix, and Chainlink, have integrated with Optimism to provide faster and cheaper transactions to their users.
Optimism's native OP token is used for governance, staking, and fee payments on the network. The token has increased significantly in value and demand since launch, reaching a high of $4.08 on February 21, 2024. This token currently ranks 29th by market capitalization.
Source: Tradingview
